The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology brought in 35 scientists to advocate for science on Capitol Hill on April 1. The group consisting of 21 student and postdoctoral researchers and 14 faculty members met with the offices of 97 congressional members to relay the importance of supporting biomedical research. Crucial issues such as increased and predictable funding for the NIH and the NSF, immigration reform for individuals with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics degrees and lifting travel restrictions for federal scientists were some of the many topics discussed.

In addition to in-person meetings, scientists across the nation were advocating virtually from the lab. These efforts included calling their representatives, sending emails and tweeting the same messages that were being discussed by those on the Hill. These scientists demonstrated how advocacy can be conducted any day of the year while performing experiments. A five-minute break between steps in an experiment can turn into a tweet or phone call demonstrating the crucial work being conducted simultaneously. Between the Hill Day participants and the Virtual Hill Day scientists, nearly 1,000 messages were tweeted or retweeted reaching nearly 85,000 Twitter users to relay how basic research improves the economy, saves lives and drives innovation.